While the department has not received an official complaint, they did make it clear they were trying to reach out to Bennett.
“To date, the LASD has not located any police report alleging criminal activity within our jurisdiction in relation to this incident,” it continued. “After becoming aware of the allegations, the LASD’s Special Victims Bureau is attempting to reach out to the reported victim and/or his representatives in an effort to appropriately document any potential criminal allegations.”
Bennett claimed in the documents that Argento kissed him before performing oral sex on him and engaging in intercourse at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California, according to theTimes.
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“What is perhaps most egregious, is the timing, which suggests that at the very same time Argento was working on her own secret settlement for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, she was positioning herself at the forefront of those condemning Mr. Weinstein, despite the fact that her sexual relationship with Mr. Weinstein was between two consenting adults which lasted for more than four years,” he continued.
An agent for Argento did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, and theTimessays Argento and her reps did not respond to multiple requests leading up to the story’s publication on Sunday.
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Reps for Bennett did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Though he declined an interview with theTimes, the outlet reported that Gordon K. Sattro, Bennett’s attorney, told the newspaper, “In the coming days Jimmy will continue doing what he has been doing over the past months and years, focusing on his music.”
As part of the settlement, Bennett forfeited the copyright to a selfie from May 9, 2013 — which was among the documents theTimessays it received — of Bennett and Argento lying in bed, according to theTimes.
Argento’s late boyfriend,Anthony Bourdain— whodied of suicide on June 8— “helped Ms. Argento navigate the matter,” theTimesreported, though additional details about his involvement were not available.
Bennett’s notice of intent to sue — sent in November to Richard Hofstetter, a lawyer for both Argento and Bourdain — asked Argento for $3.5 million in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault, and battery, according to theTimes.
Sattro wrote in the notice of intent that Bennett’s “feelings about that day were brought to the forefront recently when Ms. Argento took the spotlight as one of the many victims of Harvey Weinstein,” theTimesreported.
Of her own experiences with Weinstein, Argento told Farrow she “was not willing.”
“I said, ‘No, no, no.’ … It’s twisted. A big fat man wanting to eat you. It’s a scary fairy tale,” she said.
Argento also told Farrow that she had “consensual sexual relations with [Weinstein] multiple times over the course of the next five years” after the alleged assault. She described the incidents as “one-sided and ‘onanistic,’” Farrow wrote, and worried Weinstein would “ruin her career if she didn’t comply.”
source: people.com
